So I got busted driving way too quickly to the hospital...from Austria. My wife woke me up at 2.45 in the morning and we took off for our Canton of residence, Aargau. We were in a tiny Austrian village and the nearest major city, Innsbruck, would have been an hour and a half away, not including time allowed for getting lost and explaining various insurance/health/nationality issues in poor German. We decided to hightail it back to the same hospital where our first child was delivered, where our obstetrician could deliver the baby.

Even though I could document every step of the trip, from hotel departure to speeding ticket (5 AM) to delivery (7 AM...arrival was at 6 AM), I was made to pay a massive ticket. The local police guy was sheepish, but he said it was out of his hands...he was just delivering the message for another Canton. Fine, I get it: money is money and the Thurgau cops want theirs.

The local cop tells us that maybe the Strassenverkehrsamt will have pity on us because of our situation. Wrong again. I get my license pulled for three months because it "was not an emergency." We contact an attorney who tells us that she can find no record of any pregnancy serving as an excuse for speeding. She thinks a heart attack might qualify, but we heard an unverifiable anecdote of a guy who was penalized for driving himself to the hospital whilst having a heart attack.

Moral of the story: do not expect Anglo-American flexibility when it comes to traffic violations. Tax evasion, bizarrely enough, is another story entirely.

Schitt happens. Hope the wife and baby are doing well.

Yes, you probably should have called an ambulance...

I've heard that having a baby born in your car makes an awful mess

Speeding to the hospital is something better saved for American Medical TV shows...

sorry, you won't get much sympathy from me - my best friend was nearly killed by someone who thought their own 'need' to be somewhere in a hurry superceded everything else - the accident nearly killed her, and it ended the life of her unborn child...

The only vehicles allowed to drive above the posted speed limit are those with flashing blue lights. I know this because I have two neighbors, one works as an investigator for the Kantonal Polizei Zürich and the other was caught speeding while driving fast to get his mother who was having a mild heart attack. The three of us were talking about his getting a ticket and the police guy wasn't sure if the speeding neighbor could get off because of the situation so he actually called a friend of his in the traffic department while we were sitting there. The answer came back as no, no excuses, only an official emergency vehicle running a blue light would be allowed to go faster.

Paul, thanks for the clarification. I wish the authorities had said the same thing to me, instead of engaging in a long game of give-and-take via the phone, mail and in-person visits, ostensibly to give me a chance to state my position...and waste my money on legal counsel if I so desired.

I guess the passive-aggressive red tape dance is all part of the punishment.

It is difficult to think of any circumstances where speeding "way too quickly" can be justified except by Emergency vehicles. If an ambulance could not have got there in a reasonable time, the Police may have escorted you. This happened to a friend of mine who had a different medical emergency.

As Swisspea mentioned, the possible outcome of an accident is too awful to think about.

sounds like a very stressed situation, hope mother and child are doing well.

also, there is a huge advantage of having a flashing blue light: other vehicles would give way. random speeding car, not quite likely...

We're not in third-world countries, in case of emergency it is best to stay put, call for help and let the pros handle it.

It is extremely lucky that you, your wife and new child actually arrived in one piece anywhere.

You got up at 2:45am and without enough sleep, drove at high speed in the dark on roads you are unfamiliar with - probably the daftest thing you could have done in the circumstances, except then posting you stupidity here for all to see...

My niece was born in the front seat of my brother's car. Let me tell you, no mater how much you are willing to pay, nobody will clean your car out for you. Ick!

Did the baby arrive prematurely ? If not, why did you venture so far away knowing that it was due ?